April 22, 2007

Boxer will 'hound' Bush on emissions regulations


Sen. Barbara Boxer promised to pressure the Bush administration to adopt California-style global warming regulations, saying Wednesday that the Supreme Court "handed us a gift" with its recent landmark decision authorizing the Environmental Protection Agency to reduce greenhouse gases as a pollutant.
The decision "put the wind at our backs," the California Democrat said, vowing at the National Press Club to haul administration officials before her Senate Environment and Public Works Committee to ask them what immediate steps they will take to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which are produced by the consumption of fossil fuels.
"I will hound them on this week after week after week after week," said Boxer, who chairs the committee. "It doesn't take China doing anything. It doesn't take India doing anything. It doesn't take Congress doing anything."
The administration has the power to act on its own, she said, and "I intend to move to make sure the administration uses its powers."